Utilities

The Palliser region offers a wide of variety of utilities options for its residents, most of which are highlighted below. The City of Medicine Hat is one of the only municipalities in the world that owns and manages its own utilities. Among the lowest utility rates in Alberta, the city utility provides safe, reliable delivery of electricity, clean and efficient-burning natural gas, high quality drinking water, as well as wastewater collection and treatment, solid waste collection, and recycling and composting for area residents, business and industries.

For utilities offered within each Palliser region community, visit our Community Profiles.

Electricity

Due to the deregulation of the power industry in Alberta in 2001, residential customers in many municipalities have a choice of which power delivery companies to use. The main producers of electricity in the province are:

The region’s increasing need for power has prompted diversification into different or more power sources, ensuring plenty of energy for industrial and residential users in the years to come. To help meet this need, the City of Medicine Hat Utility expanded with a new natural gas power plant in November 2017 that increased the city’s electricity generation from 203-megawatts (MW) of power to 246.

Natural Gas

The Palliser region is networked by flow lines moving natural gas to processing facilities. For more on proposed and planned projects, visit TransCanada.

Waste and Water Treatment

The main water source in the region is the South Saskatchewan River Basin. There are six waste management authorities, commissions or landfills in the region to manage community waste. In addition, there are several companies that handle hazardous waste and recyclables in the region.

Telecommunications companies and Internet service providers can “piggyback” onto the Alberta SuperNet network, making it possible for service providers to offer high-speed services to residents and business.

PEP At Work

The recently launched “Regional Broadband Project” aims to pursue Broadband enhancement and delivery on a collaborative, integrated region wide approach. The project has also opened up a separate dark fibre opportunity (unused fiber-optic cable) that is being lead by the Cities of Brooks and Chestermere.